Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Rays 7th Round Pick - 242nd Overall - OF Marty Gantt

Gannt makes for a good human interest story as his righthand is underdeveloped, leaving him without fingertips. It hasn't impeded his game, though, as he hit .375/.485/.612 line and 10 home runs in 224 at-bats. He's shown he can handle the bat and has a solid-average arm and speed.

OF Marty Gantt: gap power with the wheels (above-average to plus speed) to leg out extra base hits; strong arm that profiles in any outfield spot; good, instinctual defender who isn’t afraid to get dirty chasing down fly balls; five words sum him up best: just knows how to hit; some guys have a knack for consistently barreling up – Gantt hits like he was born to do it; the splash of cold water comes when remembering that he’s an experienced college senior and a bit of a tweener from an offensive standpoint, but there’s no reason he can’t at least make it as a high level backup/platoon bat if he gets a few breaks along the way; 6-1, 180 pounds

His college history from here http://chronicle.augusta.com/sports/baseball/2012-06-05/former-north-augusta-star-drafted-rays

He helped the North Augusta Yellow Jackets reach the District II finals as a senior in 2008 with an 8-3 record and 1.95 ERA and originally committed to play college ball at the University of South Carolina.

Gantt instead played two seasons at Spartanburg Methodist before finishing his amateur career at College of Charleston.

7 (242) GANTT, Marty – OF School: College of CharlestonBorn: 2/11/1990B/T: R/LHT/WT: 5-11/175 As a senior at College of Charleston, was named a Louisville Slugger third-team All-American after batting .373 with 11 home runs, 46 RBI, 68 runs scored, 20 doubles, 29 stolen bases, 45 walks, a .483 on-base percentage and .614 slugging percentage. Selected as a semifinalist for the 2012 Dick Howser Award, given to the top amateur player in the country, and was named Southern Conference Player of the Year. Helped lead the Cougars to the Southern Conference regular-season title and their second NCAA bid in three years before losing to Georgia Tech in the regionals. Hit .329 with 7 home runs and 44 RBI in 61 games as a junior with the Cougars in 2011. Prior to his time at Charleston, went to Spartanburg Methodist College (JC) and was named All-Region both seasons he played there. Played four seasons at North Augusta (S.C.) High School, earning All-Region honors all four years. Named Class AAAA Player of the Year as a junior at North Augusta after posting a 9-3 record with 161 strikeouts in 84 innings as a pitcher and a .486 average with 16 doubles as an outfielder. Becomes the 2nd-highest drafted outfielder out of College of Charleston, behind only NYY Brett Gardner who was drafted by the Yankees in the third round of the 2005 June Draft.

Some more on him from here http://www.aikenstandard.com/story/0612-Marty-Gantt-draft--4058450

He said he played all three outfield spots in college and would be comfortable doing so in pro ball. He said the Rays' scout he spoke with made no mention of a projected role in the team's system. "I know they drafted me as a center fielder, so maybe I'll get a chance to play center field," Gantt said.

He added that, while the Rays weren't the only team that contacted him, he knew a bit before his name was called that it was going to happen. "I talked to a lot of teams, but about 10 minutes before the Rays drafted me, they called and asked me" if he would agree to the proposed contract and money if they were to draft him with the team's seventh pick, he said.

As for being drafted as early as he was in the draft proceedings, Gantt said the seventh round was slightly higher than he had anticipated going. "It was a little bit higher than I thought I was going to be taken," he said. "I thought I'd be 10th or something."